Local leaders ink anti-ECFA pledge

Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-huei accuses President Ma Ying-jeou’s administration of keeping China’s early harvest list from the public during a press conference in Taipei yesterday.

PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES

Eight local governments under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) signed a pledge yesterday to refuse to cooperate with the central government’s call to promote an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA).

“A proposed Taiwan-China economic cooperation framework agreement is a significant matter and should be decided by Taiwanese,” Chiayi County Commissioner Chang Hwa-kuan (張花冠) said at a news conference.

“Until the government comes up with a good explanation of the pros and cons of the pact, we refuse to serve as messengers for the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九),” Chang said, adding that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government has not fully disclosed all of the relevant information.

Chang said the central government has only bothered to discuss the good side of the pact, but it has not told the public about the disadvantages.

She also said that the Ma administration is damaging Taiwan’s democracy and economy by pushing the trade deal through without the people’s consent.

Meanwhile, at a separate setting yesterday, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) called on the Ma administration not to keep China’s “early harvest” list from the public.

The early harvest list refers to a list of goods and services that will be subject to immediate tariff concessions or exemptions, which are expected to form the backbone of the proposed deal.

The TSU has previously cited internal government reports as saying that China’s early harvest list concentrated on financial, communications, technology and media sectors. If passed, it could dramatically increase Chinese investment in these sensitive industries, the TSU said.